New residential construction hits high
New housing permits issued around Connecticut surged by nearly 55 percent last month compared to August 2019, according to new data released Thursday by the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
A total of 485 units of new housing were issued permits last month by 104 communities around the state. Over the first eight months of this year, 3,091 units of new housing were issued permits, a 10.6 percent increase over the same period in 2019.
The year to-date-permit activity for 2020 represents the best showing by Connecticut’s new housing industry since 2015, according to the data. It also was the fourth time in eight months that new housing permit activity topped 400 units.
The bulk of the permits. 314, were issued for apartment buildings with five units or more.
Shelton had the largest amount of new housing activity among communities reporting new data in August, with 134 units issued permits last month. Another Fairfield County community, Danbury, had the second largest amount of new housing units issued permits with 104.
Milford led all New Haven County communities in new housing activity last month with 11 new units issued permits.
Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research for New Haven-based DataCore Partners, said the August new housing permits continue to show the kind of impact COVID-19 is having on Connecticut’s housing market.
“Housing is showing some near-term strength,” Klepper-Smith said. “People are transferring their assets from the stock market into the housing market.”
The year-to-date housing permit numbers are indicative how the gains a matter of months, he said.
“In June, the year-to-date number were even with where they were at the same time in 2019,” Klepper-Smith said. “Two months later. you’re yearto-date number that are well ahead of where they were in August 2019.”